


Day 3: Hypnotic

by Magpie_Crow



Series: Fictober 2020 [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fictober 2020, M/M, Old Gods, Reincarnation, belly-dancer logan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26794384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: Pathways were everywhere, in Janus' eyes.He couldn’t see his own path, but he saw Logan’s reaching towards him. And that, oh best beloved, was a very good thing.
Relationships: Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, minor or background relationships
Series: Fictober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946062
Comments: 3
Kudos: 64





	Day 3: Hypnotic

**Author's Note:**

> This should be the last fic in my Old Gods series. I don't have any other characters to introduce, lol.

Pathways were everywhere. 

No, Janus wasn’t in a maze. Nor was he on a particularly confusing walk in the park. He could just- see pathways. Pathways that were taken, pathways that were not, and some that had yet to be traveled. Which made him an _excellent_ fortune teller. And that, he took advantage of.

Working at a weekend renaissance faire was pretty fun, all things considered. He made good money by telling people things he could see, and some things he couldn’t. It wasn’t like he was lying to them, technically.

Their pathways made his small enclosed booth stuffy, though, so he took semi-frequent breaks. 

On one such break, he heard music playing nearby, and decided to go investigate.

There was a group of dancers on a decently sized stage. Belly-dancers, Janus knew from his years working at this renfaire. They were good, he supposed. Very coordinated. All in matching orange outfits.

And then the group split to reveal a dancer in blue. It was a male, as far as Janus could tell, with a high collared crop top and pants slung sinfully low on his hips. He was wearing a veil over his face, so only his eyes showed, and they were lined in dark blue khol. The coins wrapped about his waist jingled merrily with his hypnotic movements, and Janus was struck dumb.

The dancer was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. And his path- It was very straightforward, which was odd for someone who was belly-dancing for money at a renfaire. Janus _had_ to know why. 

After the dance, Janus tried to catch the dancer’s eye, to get his attention, but the other man slipped away without stopping. Janus wasn’t a _stalker_ , so he refused to let himself follow the man’s path through the crowds, and instead he went back to his little booth and let himself be distracted by customers. 

Ah, the curse of renfaires. Sometimes there were incredibly attractive men, sometimes there were people who should _not_ be wearing that little chainmail and nothing else.

~~

At home, Janus wiped off the makeup he used to cover the burn scars on his face, a testament to the DIY exorcism his father had attempted when he was a child. 

It wasn’t Janus’ fault he was a reincarnated god. 

There had been four of them. The god of beauty, the god of chaos, the god of dreams, and himself, the god of paths. 

As far as he knew, he was the only reincarnated god who remembered his past. But then, he hadn’t managed to find Remy yet, so there was that. He’d found Roman and Remus, still twins despite the fact that their godhood had left them at different times. Remus had even managed to keep his little human pet nearby. They were lovers this life, as they might have been had they met in any different circumstance than they had the last time around. 

His phone rang and he sighed. Right. Saturday night, and Roman would be calling about whatever interesting thing had happened during his week. 

Janus sometimes regretted re-befriending his old compatriots. Remus was crazy and Roman was a gossip. Not as bad a gossip as Remy had been, back in the day, but they did spend a lot of time together before Roman passed. 

“Smith.”

_“Janus! You’ll never guess what happened this week!”_

“No, I won’t. _Do_ tell me everything.”

_”Virgil, the new guy? He fell in love with Remy!”_

Wait. 

“Who?”

_”Remy, you know, the historian who hangs out at the temple where I intern? Virgil came in absolutely coated in blooms the other day!”_

Well. It seems Remy was closer than Janus could have thought. And perhaps he remembered as well.

~~

It was simple enough to visit the temple in question on his day off. Well, okay, he called his secretary and told her to cancel his meetings for the day, at least. Being a high-end lawyer had its perks. When he got there, he was shocked to see a familiar path. 

Standing at the entrance, talking to a tourist, was a young man in a blue polo and tie. His hair was gelled into place, and he wore thick-rimmed glasses, but Janus recognized paths, not necessarily people. 

It was the dancer, and he was _still_ attractive. 

“Janus!” 

Roman came barreling into his side. 

“It’s so good to see you!”

“A pleasure, I’m sure, Roman. I’d rather like to meet this historian you keep talking about.”

“Sure, sure! He was here before Logan this morning, which is kinda weird, because Remy needs so much coffee to function, but it shouldn’t be hard to find him!” 

Roman grabbed his hand and started pulling him into the temple, waving to the dancer as he went. 

“That’s Logan. He’s normally here first.”

Logan. Janus now had a name. 

And then he saw Remy, and that chased all thoughts of the pretty dancer out of his head. Temporarily. 

Remy’s path was resplendent. The path of a fully realized god, and it occurred to Janus that Remy had most likely never passed. 

The god turned, probably because Roman yelled out his name, and he and Janus made eye contact.

Remy _beamed_. Dammit. 

He sauntered up to them and winked. 

“What’s up, babes?”

Janus nodded solemnly at Remy, to indicate that he knew what was going on. 

“Who’s this, Roman?”

Or not. Remy was as dense as ever. 

“This is my friend Janus! He wanted to meet you!”

“Janus, huh? Nice to meet you, babes!”

“Roman.” 

Another voice came from behind them, and Roman turned around sheepishly. Janus turned too, just out of curiosity. 

It was the dancer.

“Roman, you have a tour group to attend to in less than two minutes. If your friend isn’t going to join, I have to ask him to stop distracting you from your duties.”

“Anything for someone as charming as you. Roman, go do your job. I’ll stay here and get acquainted.” Janus smiled and winked at the man, who blushed a little before walking away with Roman.

Maybe Janus would get a date out of this. Hopefully. 

“So, babes. What’s up with you?”

“What _ever_ do you mean, Remington?”

“You’re not a god anymore.”

Janus shrugged. “No, but I remember. Roman and Remus don’t, though. Probably a good thing. You never stopped being one, apparently.”

“It was the vines, babes. People tend to remember things like that.”

Right. That made sense. 

“You could give it up, you know. Your godhood.”

Remy smiled. “I could. Maybe I will.” 

The look in his eyes turned fond. “I’ve got a reason to now, anyways.”

Affection. Disgusting. 

The two ended up chatting for the rest of the day. Remy introduced Janus to his boyfriend, Virgil, and Janus wholeheartedly approved. Remy had obviously been alone for too long.

~~

Janus began visiting the temple more often. It wasn’t entirely to see and flirt with Logan, he did come to visit Remy sometimes. 

Mostly it was for Logan. Janus found a vine creeping up his side a few weeks into their stilted interactions and cursed Remy for the stupid choices the god made in the past. He would curse that damned Emile, too, if he ever found his reincarnation. Stupid gods and their stupid best friends. 

~~

And then the belly-dancing troupe visited his fortune-telling booth. Janus laughed with them and told them their fortunes, one by one. Logan hung back, not joining the gaggle of giggling women in front of Janus. 

When the women left, though, he stepped up, jingling lightly. 

“You’re Roman’s lawyer.”

Janus changed his demeanor immediately, from man of mystery to indolent flirt. 

“Roman couldn’t afford me, darling.”

Logan laughed a little, and pulled his veil away from his face. 

“I thought you looked familiar the first time you came to the temple. You stand out in a crowd, with those scales on your face.”

Janus shrugged. “It suits my character.”

“I suppose it does. Do you have a break soon?”

“I have a break whenever I want to take one.”

There was a merry jingle as Logan shifted from one foot to the other. 

“Would you be amenable to walking a bit with me?”

Janus smiled softly at the other man. “I would love to.”

He couldn’t see his own path, but he saw Logan’s reaching towards him. And that, oh best beloved, was a very good thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! 
> 
> I set up a Discord server! <https://discord.gg/gtWgvQ4>  
> Join me to talk about my writing and stuff!
> 
> Find more on tumblr @we-are-fam-ily


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